Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY
Chapter 12: Battle at the Docks
"Blake! Where are you?" Ruby called out as she and her team wandered down the streets of Vale.
"Come on Blake. I'm not mad at you. We can sit down and discuss this like mature adults." Weiss added her own call as she scanned the streets for any sign of her wayward twin.
"Free Tuna! Get your free Tuna; as much as you want!"
Ruby and Weiss turned towards Yang, giving her a look of confusion and annoyance respectively. She merely gave a shrug in reply; it was worth a shot.
They had been searching for hours with no leads whatsoever. Even with JNPR splitting into pairs, three groups weren't enough to comb through an entire city the size of Vale in a single day. It would be dark soon and the Sisters were beginning to despair.
They had tried using their Sense, but in such a crowed place as Vale, they couldn't see or feel Blake's Aura had all. They had practiced this shared ability back on Patch, but almost always in the woods surrounding their house. There were no other people in the area besides them, so it was easy to feel their siblings' souls. In such a populated urban zone like this, there was so much interfere from other people around that it was impossible to use the Sense unless they were already very close to her.
They needed to try something else.
"I think we should contact Professor Ozpin and explain the situation to him. He could get the Police on the case and they can search the city faster than we can." Ruby suggested.
"Well I think we should keep looking. The authorities won't be able to do anything until tomorrow and I refuse to let Blake sleep another night on the street" Weiss retorted, her frustration about the situation building. She wasn't about to give up just yet.
"And I think Weiss's hair looks lovely today" Penny said, appearing next to Weiss and taking her ponytail in her hands. "It's so soft and smooth. You must care for it greatly and only use the best products".
"Well, of course" Weiss replied, a smug grin on her face, "One must always endeavor to look one's best". The white Xiao Long was happy that someone noticed all the hard work she put into her hair and it distracted her from their current, gloomy situation.
Her happiness lasted for all of one second as she fully realized what was happening. Weiss let out a loud scream as she jumped high into the air before landing safely in Yang's arms.
"Penny?! What the fu—heck are you doing?!" Weiss's voice was loud and shrill, her heart beating fast from the sudden shock of the girl appearing beside her.
"Why, I was just admiring Weiss's wonderful hair and using it as a means to enter the conversation" Penny's reply was simple and earnest, just like the girl himself. "I had been following you for the last ten minutes, attempting to formulate an appropriate and effective means to engage in conversation and this option appeared the most logical".
"Oh Penny. You don't need to slip into a conversation with us" Ruby said, "You're a friend; you can talk to us anytime and in whatever way you feel comfortable with".
"Preferably in a way that doesn't invade my personal space and nearly give me a heart attack" Weiss added ruefully, still held bridal-style in Yang's arms.
The eldest Xiao Long simply looked at the red-haired girl. Even with them focused on looking for Blake, it was still remarkable that none of them sensed Penny following or sneaking up to them until she announced herself. She had some impressive stealth skills.
Penny adopted a thoughtful posture as she absorbed Ruby and Weiss's words. She nodded to herself after a moment and moved to stand directly in front of the Sisters.
"Salutations!" She said loudly, giving an exuberant and belated greeting. "It's a pleasure to see you again, Friend-Ruby, Friend-Weiss, Friend-Yang". She looked over the group and tilted her head to the side.
"Query; where is Friend-Blake? From your repeated calling of her name, I would theorized that she is lost and you are attempting to locate her?"
"Yeah, she been missing since yesterday" Weiss explained as Yang set her back onto her own feet. "I…we got into a…disagreement…and she ran way".
"Query; why have you not contact the authorities? They would possess the resources necessary to find her quickly; It is the most logical decision".
Ruby sent a 'I told you so' look at Weiss, who grumbled a bit before replying.
"Be that as it may, I need to find her myself. She's my twin sister and this is all my fault. She'd keep going if it were me; family sticks together through thick and thin".
'Sister? Family? Query; are you four all part of the same familial unit?" The collective nod from Team RWBY made Penny look puzzled. "Strange…By my calculations, based on your physical traits, the chances of you four being related are extremely low".
"We many not be related, but we're family all the same" Ruby spoke up, her voice filled with conviction. "We've been together all out lives and are sisters in all the ways that matter".
"That's not a problem, is it?" Yang asked, her voice low and cold. If this girl though there was something wrong with them being a family, then this budding friendship was over.
Penny was quite for silence for several moments, before a big smile appeared on her face.
"Of course, it not a problem! Its just like my father's always telling me, family isn't something you buy pre-assembled from a store; it's something you build yourself, one nut and bolt at a time. Even if the final product looks non-standard, as long as you put love into it, it will be worth more then gold".
The Sisters were surprised by the response, and the total conviction behind it, but were happy and more relieved then anything. Penny might be a little odd, but she definitely wasn't a bad or prejudiced person.
"That's good to hear. Your dad seems like a pretty good person" Yang said.
"Oh, he's a very nice man. He's the one who made me after all" Penny replied, bright smile still shining. The Sisters simply nodded while Weiss leaned in to whisper in Ruby's ear.
"Robot…"
Ruby rolled her eyes at this ridiculous notion that her sisters were fixated on. Sure, Penny was a bit odd, but that didn't make her a robot. Besides, a robot would have some cool laser weapon and be super strong and tough. Until she saw that, she wasn't going to believe this crazy idea.
"Anyway" Penny continued speaking, "If Friend-Blake is lost, then it is my duty as a friend to help find her. Please, tell me what exactly happened so I can calculate an effective plan".
The Sisters proceeded to give a brief overview about what had happened yesterday, explaining as delicately as possible Blake's vigilante activities and Weiss opposition the seemed to have caused this situation.
"Hmmmmm. It's seems that these ongoing Dust robberies are a contributing factor, heightening Friend-Blake's desire for justice. Added in emotion stress from this sibling argument and she may attempt to solve that issue on her own as a way to validate her previous actions." Penny's analysis was quick and accurate, an amazing feat given the brief and simple information she had been given.
"According to my database…" Penny paused for a moment. "I mean…if memory serves, there is a large Schnee Dust Company shipment coming in tonight. That would be a likely place for these Dust thieves to hit, and a likely place for Friend-Blake to go in an attempt to stop them."
The Sisters thought this over; it seemed a bit far-fetched but at the same time something Blake would do, especially if she wasn't thinking straight. Yang and Weiss looked over to their little sister, their team leader, waiting for her to make a decision.
Ruby didn't take long to make a decision. This was the best lead they had and they didn't have many other options.
"Okay. We'll head to the docks and check out this Dust shipment. There should be less people there, so we can use the Sense to tell if Blake's there or not. If we find nothing, then we go to the Police and organize a full search." Ruby looked at her sisters, who nodded their agreement. The red Xiao Long then pulled out her scroll.
"I'll call Jaune and Pyrrha and get them to swing around to meet us at the docks. Penny, you lead the way".
"Of course! Follow me friends, let's go!" With energy and exuberance that would outdo even Ruby, Penny led the group towards the dockyards. The Sisters also had a slight spring in their step, this plan giving them the first bit of hope all day.
At this time, Jaune was walking through one of Vale's shopping districts, looking in and around the many stores and stalls for any sign of Blake. He hadn't seen or heard anything and was beginning to think they should come up with another plan of action.
"Hey Nora. I think we need to…Nora?"
Jaune had lost track of his teammate and after a few minutes of searching and backtracking, found her standing in front of a shop's window. Getting closer, Jaune saw that it was a dress store and the item on display was a very elaborate pink ball gown. Nora was gazing at it with an expression filled with wonder and longing.
"Thinking of buying something?" Jaune asked as he walked up beside her.
Nora jumped a little in surprise and whirled around.
'What?! I was just…sorry, I was spacing out. Let's get back to searching." Nora was embarrassed that she had lost focus while they were doing something so important.
"Its fine; a little break won't hurt" Jaune turned his attention back to the display dress. "That's a really nice dress, well made. We have a dance in the second term; you thinking of getting a dress for that?"
'I…well…I was thinking…no, that's not really my style anyway" Nora let out a weak laugh. "I mean, simple, ordinary girl could never pull that dress off."
"You're right about that" Jaune replied nodding. "You'd have to be a stunning beauty to bring the most out of a dress like that".
Nora smiled sadly. Of course, that would be the case. It was a pipe dream to think she could ever really be like the princesses in the stories. It was for the best after all, for her to be seen as just a plain and simple girl. It was what she wanted and was no surprise that-
"But that should be no problem for you" Jaune continued, "After all, you are one of the most beautiful girls at Beacon".
It took Nora several seconds to comprehend what Jaune said, and her face turned bright red when she did. Beyond the words themselves, it was the way he said it, like it was just a simple and obvious truth, that really made her heart race.
"You'd still need to make some alterations; adjust the front cut and shorten the train to match your height, but overall it would fit you spectacularly. The dance isn't that far away, so I think you should consider-"
"Thank you…" Nora's voice was very soft and quiet, but it was enough to pull Jaune away from his musing and back to her.
"Nora?" Jaune was concerned. Her head was down, so he couldn't she her face but it looked like she was about to cry.
Before he could ask, his Scroll rang and seeing it was Ruby, answered it right away. Nora took the time to take several deep breathes and wipe the small tears forming at the corners of her eyes.
Jaune conversed quickly with Ruby, nodding several times before ending the call and turning back to Nora.
"That was Ruby. She says they may have a lead on Blake. She wants us to circle around and meet up at the docks but before that, are you okay?" His voice was filled with concern and he was worried he many have unknowingly done something.
Nora lifted her head and revealed a bright, ear-to-ear smile.
"I'm perfectly fine, couldn't be better!"
Quick as lightening, Nora grabbed Jaune by the hand and started to pull him down the street.
"Ruby said to meet up at the docks? Well, come one fearless leader, don't be a slowpoke. We're going to be the first ones there."
A protest that this wasn't a race died on Jaune's lips. He didn't know what was going on but he could tell that Nora's smile, her joy, was completely genuine. It was more real then most of the smiles she gave, though he had no idea why that was. Either way, he wasn't going to dampen her good spirits over something so trivial, so he just smiled too and picked up his pace to match hers.
Seeing a young man and woman running down the street, joyful smiles on their face, caused many of the onlookers to have the same thought.
"Oh, those two sure do look like a nice, happy couple"
On the other side of Vale, Ren felt a chill go down his spine. He didn't know what it was but something just felt…wrong.
To be fair, Ren had been feeling off all day, ever since Team JNPR had split off into pairs. It was, of course, a logical decision to split into pairs to cover more ground and it should have been logical for them to go with their partners. Nora's suggestion that she go with Jaune and Ren go with Pyrrha was so strange and illogical that Ren's brain didn't fully process it, and he simply nodded along and raised no protest. When they departed, he walked the down the street with his assigned partner, certain that things were normal.
It was a full minute later, as Ren turned to tell Nora where they should head to first, that he realized that the red-hair girl beside him wasn't his red hair girl. He looked around but Nora and Jaune were out of sight. Realizing what happened, he almost ran back to find them and fix this…mistake, but that would have been very awkward and rude towards Pyrrha, so he just kept moving forward.
Why did Nora go with Jaune and not him? Why did she want to be around someone who wasn't him? Didn't she know what could happen if she lost control and he wasn't around? And what was Jaune thinking, letting this happen; was he trying to steal his Nora out from under him? If that beautiful blonde bastard tried anything like that, he swore-
Ren took several calming breathes. It was all fine; a little odd but fine nonetheless. He was happy, honestly, that Nora was making new friends and being on a team meant that she would be working with others. It was a small thing, nothing to get upset about.
But Nora had been a part of his everyday life for so long; she was very much his whole world and he didn't feel complete with her away.
Even though the day he met her was the day he had lost everything, and part of him always associated that pain with Nora, no matter how unfair he knew that was.
Ren shook those thoughts away. He needed to focus and thinking those kinds of thoughts weren't going to help. His throat was sore from coughing and his chest pains weren't getting any better, so he needed his head to be clear at least.
Looking around, he noticed that Pyrrha was nowhere to be seen. They had been walking along a street that bordered the edge of a public park on one side and various shops and cafés along the other. Ren quickly looked into the shops, trying to find his wayward teammate.
He stopped in front of a clothing store that had several dresses on display. Unlike most stores that had dresses in the Valean or Atlesian style, these were of Mistralian design. These were made of silk, were more form fitting and had elaborate embroidered designs. Ren was taken back to the festivals of his village, when the women would wear dresses like these and dance in the main square.
They were absolutely beautiful…what would it be like to wear-
Boys are easier to deal with then girls
The harsh mantra hit Ren's mind like a whip and his whole body flinched. This wasn't the time to be thinking of…useless thoughts such as these. There was a job to do and he had to man up to do it.
Another quick look showed that Pyrrha wasn't on this side of the street, so Ren headed into the nearby park. It didn't take long to find his teammate, her bright red hair in stark contrast to the green surroundings. She was standing in front of a statue of a Huntsmen standing victorious over Grimm, similar to the larger one in front of Beacon. The red Myrmidon seemed completely transfixed by the stone figure and didn't notice Ren until he spoke up.
"Pyrrha, is everything okay?"
The redhead jumped and whirled around. "What?! Ren? I…ummm…I was just…" she stammered and sputtered, not sure of what to say.
"Hey, Hey. It's all right. We're due for a little break, I'd say. My head hasn't been…too focused for the last couple of minutes either"
'All day' would be closer to the truth but Pyrrha seemed to take comfort with those words and quickly calmed down. Her gaze returned to the statute.
"I was just thinking…about the future…and duty…" she confessed in a loud whisper.
Ren looked up at the stature. "Yeah, I think I understand. This is what we're trying to become after all." Ren waved a hand towards the idealized Huntsman on display.
A formidable and fearless warrior, capable of smiting the Grimm and protecting everyone. That was the person, the man, that Ren wanted to be…needed to be. If he had been like the man depicted in the stature back then…maybe his parents would still be here.
Ren looked away, trying and failing to draw his thoughts away from that dark place.
"It's just…so far." Pyrrha whispered, drawing Ren's attention back to her. "Often it just seems an impossible destiny to reach, not matter how much work I do."
Ren nodded. Their training and studies were going well but it sometimes seemed like nothing compared to what a full Huntsmen was supposed to be. Now, many Huntsmen feats were exaggerated and they had all made huge strides form where they had started, but it something it looked like it was an impossible feat to accomplish.
For Ren at least, the goal of being like the man shown in the statue was, in one important way, very much impossible.
Ren shook his head angrily, tired and frustrated with all these depressing thoughts going through his mind lately; he needed to think positively if things were going to be better.
"Well…it may be hard at times but if we keep doing our best, I'm sure things will work out" Ren tried to put a measure of good cheer into his voice, wanting to cheer Pyrrha up at least. "You'll be fine, I'm sure. You're a genius after all."
Pyrrha stiffened at that remark. "I'm…I'm not a genius" she said weakly.
Ren shook his head at that. He had seen the way she fought, how effortlessly she could defeat just about anyone. Even in those close matches against Team RWBY, she had fought brilliantly and showed everyone that she was a cut above the rest. Her grades were among the best in class, just behind Weiss by a hair, and it seemed that she knew just about everything there was to be a Huntress and could explain it in a way that anyone could grasp.
"You don't need to be so modest" Ren replied, thinking she was just being her humble self. "It's pretty clear that-"
"I'M NOT A GENIUS!"
Pyrrha's sudden shout took Ren by surprised, almost as much a Pyrrha herself, judging by the shocked expression on her face.
"I-I…I'm sorry…I didn't mean to shout…"
"No, I'm sorry. I didn't know that saying something like that was upsetting to you. I would never-"
Ren moved forward and went to place a comforting hand on Pyrrha's shoulder. The moment the tips of his fingers touched her, Pyrrha instantly threw out a fast punch right at Ren's face. The green ninja was quick enough to avoid the blow and jumped back. The red-haired girl looked at her raised arm and then to Ren, a look of horror emerging on her face.
"I-I-I…I didn't mean to…I'm sorry!" Tears began to fall down her cheek and she turned away from Ren, moving towards the stature and grabbing the edge of the stone plinth it was standing on.
Ren was very confused and concerned, not sure what was going on. Looking back to Initiation, where she hit Jaune for grabbing her shoulder, and all the other times she seemed to avoid physical contact outside of Combat Class, and a pattern began to emerge.
"You…really don't like being touched, do you?"
"I'm sorry…I'm sorry…" was all she could say, a mournful apology that she softly repeated over and over.
She wasn't a genius; she wasn't that perfect girl that people though she was. She was only what she was because she had been made that way, forced to be that way. She was so skilled at fighting, at violence, because that was all her life had been for the last twelve years. Her body could only perceive human contact as potential violence and pain, and respond accordingly.
She was what her parent wanted her to be, the ultimate warrior who will save the world. But she wasn't a genius who excelled immediately, so they made her train endlessly, forcing her to fight until she eventually got it. She was the product of hard work, though not the kind she could ever take pride in. It was a good thing her Aura was so good at healing wounds or her body would have been a mess of scars.
A person who took so long to excel couldn't possible be called a genus, unlike her big brother.
He had been a true genius, learning everything quickly and excelling with seemingly no effort. The only fault his instructors ever had with him was that he focused so much on his swordsmanship that he often neglected his shield-training, which was the trademark of the Nikos family.
But his skill with the sword was more then enough to make up for this flaw and he had been well on the way to developing his own personal sword style, a remarkable feat for one so young. He hadn't even unlocked his Semblance yet and still was capable of taking on full Huntsmen.
He had shone like a bright star and everyone said that he was the absolute best of his generation. Even though he had just started schooling at Sanctum, he had received offers from all four Huntsmen Academies to attend when he eventually graduated, which likely would have been quite early.
Her parents had arranged for her brother to take a tour of the four Kingdoms and their respective Academies. They accompanied him to Mistral and Haven but afterwards he traveled to the other Kingdoms with only one of their family's retainers as a chaperone.
This wasn't just about furthering their son's education; they wanted to show off their prodigal son to the world. They wanted everyone to see this future warrior, whose destiny they firmly believed was to rise above the rest and save the world.
Everything had gone well at first, with Pyrrha's brother leaving Argus for Atlas, where he proceeded to charm the upper crust of the Kingdom during several extravagant parties. Afterwards, he boarded the cruise ship, Light of the North, and traveled south to Vale.
But the, a sudden storm blew in and the Light of the North crashed into the Cat's Paw off the coast of Vale. There, her brother, the greatest hope of his generation, died alongside hundreds of ordinary people in one of the greatest disasters since the Great War.
The Nikos' were devastated, having lost not only their son but the pride of their family. Having such a prodigy for a child had been a cornerstone of their lives and personal identity, and they couldn't bear to lose that as well. They had a second child, so to them it was natural to make her into a replacement, to have Pyrrha take on her brother's role and destiny. Even if she wasn't a genius…even if they had to break her.
And they did break her. Pyrrha was a formidable warrior with amazing skills and a honed mind, but she also had great difficulty with basic human interactions. No matter how much she wanted to touch, and be touched by others, her first reaction was to lash out, even if it was her friend offering comfort.
All of this because her brother had died and left all of this to her. A part of her hated him for that, for leaving all alone. He had such an easy time, with all the love she never received. It was like he took all that was good in life and left her with nothing but hardships.
But she still loved him. It wasn't his fault that things had turned out this way and above all she just missed him. Even though he had been several years older than her, he was always willing to drop what he was doing and spend time with her.
The most precious memories Pyrrha had were when she was lifted up in her brother's arms and he would playfully swing her around. He would give a big smile, his spiky red hair all messed up and his deep green eyes sparkling.
Belisario Nikos; her big brother Bel. He was gone forever but she would always remember him.
The events of the past were forcing Pyrrha to focus on an unknown future, no matter how much it was negatively affecting her present. She didn't want to be a person who got uncomfortable when she saw other people display affection; she didn't want to be someone who tried to hit her friends when all they wanted to do was help her. She wanted to change but she didn't know where to even start and the 'self-resilience' her parents enforced on her made it effectively impossible for her to simply ask for help.
She wanted to change but she didn't know how. If only someone could help her…
Ren had moved up to the space of the stature plinth to the right of Pyrrha, leaving almost two feet of space between him and his teammate. He racked his brain on how to comfort her, to let her know that everything was okay and that he wasn't hurt or offended. He had no idea how to do that though, as comforting and making people feel better emotionally wasn't exactly his strong suit.
You can always give up and abandon her, like you do with Nora…
The ninja gripped the stone plinth in front of him tightly as he banished that thought from his mind. He wasn't that he was abandoning Nora, it was just that her situation was…difficult and thus helping her was difficult.
But still, there was a girl in need right in front of him, and what kind of man would he be if he just stood by and did nothing. There had to be something he could do to reach her…
Ren looked down at his hands gripping the plinth and turned to see that Pyrrha had her hands on the stonework as well. A thought entered Ren mind that there was a way to reach out to Pyrrha without physically touching her.
Pyrrha was going through some breathing exercises to calm down and was about to tell Ren that she was fine and that they should get going when she felt a strange sensation on her right hand. Opening her eyes and looking down, she saw her hand was discoloured, like something was draining the colour away of it. It didn't hurt at all and while it was a strange and somewhat cold feeling, there was a gentleness to it.
She saw that the stone around her hand was under the same discolouration and she followed the line across the plinth to her right, seeing that it was coming from Ren's left hand. The magenta-eyed boy smiled as the Mistral Champion's gaze finally reached his face.
"My Semblance" he explained. "It suppresses and conceals emotions, making you invisible to the Grimm. I can cover anyone up to a certain distance away from myself and I've found that it can help to calm people down. In a way, you could think of it as me holding your hand without physically touching you."
Ren suddenly turned away and broke the Semblance connection. "I'm sorry. That was very inappropriate of me, doing that without asking permission first. I won't do it again…"
"NO!"
Ren turned back around at Pyrrha desperate cry. The undefeated warrior shrank back a bit but collected herself quickly.
"It's…not bad at all. I'm not mad or offend that you did that…it was actually kind of nice."
That was a bit of an understatement. While the actual sensation hadn't been pleasant by any means, the fact remained that it had been a physical interaction with another person that didn't result in her trying to attack them. Sure, it was an indirect touch through means of a Semblance but it had been a connection with another human being that didn't bring out a violent reaction from her. She was absolutely thrilled by it, seeing it as something miraculously and incredible beyond any words she could express.
It was both joyous, and incredibly sad, that such as small thing could elicit a reaction like this from her.
Ren, for his part, was glad that his impromptu use of his Semblance hadn't caused offense or crossed any lines. He didn't want to see his teammate sad and upset, and was glad that his action made her feel a little better.
"I was wondering…" Pyrrha said, blushing slightly and looking a little uncertain "If maybe…we could do this again…with your Semblance I mean! It's just…maybe using it could help me get a little better at…being touched by others. If you don't want to, I fully understand…"
"I'd be happy to help you. You're my teammate and my friend, so I am more then willing to help you with anything you need."
Ren's promise brought a smile to Pyrrha's face, one absolutely pure and radiant. It left the young man stunned at how beautiful she was, and questioning how he hadn't noticed it until now.
This moment was broken as Pyrrha's Scroll rang and she quickly answered it, giving Ren a few moments to collect himself. After a minute of talking with Ruby on the other end, the call ended and Pyrrha explained the new plan to Ren. The pair quickly departed for the docks, a spring in their step and a smile on their faces. This wasn't just due to this new information regarding Blake, but from the earlier promise made.
For Pyrrha, there was a real chance that she could finally get over her ingrained aversion to physical contact and become just a bit more 'normal' For Ren, this was a chance to use his own abilities in a way that could truly help someone in need, a chance to not run away but instead do some real good.
Hope began to swell in their hearts, the first real hope that things would get better, that they had felt in many, many years.
The sun was beginning to set and long shadows began to cover the quiet dockyards of Vale. The many stacked shipping containers, with their SDC logos, were becoming enveloped in the creeping darkness and were becoming difficult to make out.
It was no challenge for the young Faunus that was laying down on the flat roof of a nearby building to make out the metal containers that held the SDC's often ill-gotten Dust. Her eyes could still make out the White Snowflake emblem of the Schnee Family and she could almost feel all the pain and hardship they had caused to countless people, human and Faunus, in the pursuit of all that precious Dust. Part of her wanted to go and paint that white symbol with black paint; a black snowflake would be much better in her eyes.
Blake shook her head slightly; this wasn't the time to get caught up in her feelings towards either the SDC or for Weiss. She needed to focus on right now, everything else could wait; even her twin sister.
Her ears twitched for a moment but she didn't move, having already discerned the source of the incoming sound. A moment later, Sun landed on the roof next to her, his arms laden with green apples.
"I miss anything?" he asked.
"Not really. They've offloaded the crates from the boat. Now they're just sitting there."
"Guess we got a wait on our hands." Sun took one of the apples in his hand and held in towards Blake. "I stole you some food."
Blake's response about questioning his willingness to break the law was silenced by the sheer hypocrisy of it all, so she instead extended one hand and caught the apple that he tossed her.
Sun put the remaining apples down beside Blake and took one for himself, taking a bite as he looked out over the eerily quiet docks. He hoped that something would happen soon, as a long stakeout was not something he looked forward to. He wanted to help Blake but he wasn't the kind to just wait around, he was a man of action.
He turned towards Blake, to give voice to these concerns, but was stopped when he noticed something was off. The cat girl was still laying on her stomach, munching on an apple. The change was that the small pile of stolen apples had been replaced with a pile of eaten cores. Blake quickly finished off the apple in her hand and added the core to the pile, leaving no question as to what had happened.
This left Sun with a question that he had wondered earlier that day; how the hell did she do that? He had only looked away for a few moments and she had devoured all the apples he had brought. She had done the same with the 'small' lunch and dinner they had gotten while they had waiting for the docks to clear. Where on Remnant did she put it all?
Laying on her stomach, Blake was presiding a very appealing side profile to Sun, with the very noticeable rise around her rear end being the most alluring feature. Sun couldn't take his eyes away from that prodigious butt and it was there that he perhaps found the answer to his question.
Blake suddenly bolted upright, startling Sun who tried to stammer out that he definitely wasn't staring at her ass before her raised hand silenced him.
"What is it?" he asked.
Blake turned her head slowly, her cat ears twitching. "I hear something. It's coming from over the water. It sounds like…an airship?"
The inside of the Bullhead was dim, and it shook slightly every now and then as it hit a small patch of air turbulence. Roman Torchwick sat at complete ease in his seat, as even these cramped, poor and unstable conditions were palatial compared to where he had grown up. A cigar hung between his lips, unlit as the smoke would have quickly filled the cabin. It would make the other passengers uncomfortable at the very least and that fact almost made him want to light up.
Those other passengers included the leader of this zealous group of animals, the infamous Adam Taurus. The red swordsman was sitting straight in his seat, calm and composed, moving only occasionally to quickly draw and check his sword that was laying across his lap.
Roman had heard a lot about this man in the last few weeks, more then he ever wanted to know. This was the great radical of the White Fang, cast out from the main body for speaking the words that everyone knew but were afraid to speak; that the Faunus would have to fight to have an equal place in this world.
The hidden White Fang airbase had been awash with stories and rumours about this young man. They said that his sword was red because it had been bathed in the blood of a hundred, no, a thousand humans. They said he had rescued scores of Faunus from SDC mining camps, where they were treated little better than slaves, and had come a hair away form assassinating Jacques Schnee himself.
The Schnee Dust Company had covered up this incident completely, so only the teller of this particular story knew of it, and they claimed to have heard it from a 'friend of a friend who was definitely there'
Alongside such 'truthful' tales, there were intense speculation and even betting pools around aspects of his mysterious Faunus. The largest mystery was, of course, what was under that mask he always wore?
The largest bets were that it was a mess of horrific scars caused for an incident at an SDC mine, or that he had the SDC's lettering branded onto his face as punishment for being disobedient as a youth. There were smaller bets regarding his eye colour, ranging from fiery red to icy blue.
He was universally regarded as being a peerless warrior and his orders were followed without question. Everyone seen by everyone at the base as being the unquestioned founder and leader of this group of righteous warriors, recruited from those who found Ghira Belledonna's leadership too passive and lax.
Roman listened to all these stories and rumours, and observed this mysterious and dangerous man carefully to see how much of a threat he might pose, and had come to a clear conclusion.
Adam Taurus…was an absolute phony. Roman had lived alongside murders and killers all his life, hell he was one himself, and he could tell if someone had taken a life. Adam hadn't killed a single person in his life, let along the hundreds they claim he did. He was calm and reasonable all the time, not the barely contained righteous fury that they said he possessed. While he was a good and confident leader, he didn't act like the radical revolutionary that everyone imagined him to be.
He knew how to fight, there was no doubt there. Roman had seen him practice with his sword and he knew his business, and he had almost taken an SDC train by himself. If a second person had been with him, they could have secured the train and its cargo and the main reason why he went alone was because there were only a few people in the White Fang that could keep up with him and none were available in time.
But he wasn't a killer and that was all that mattered if it came down to a fight between him and Roman. Adam was perhaps that more skilled fighter, but Roman could and would do everything thing to win; every dirty trick that a 'noble' warrior would never think of.
Adam Taurus simply wasn't as big a threat as everyone made him out to be. Having asked around, Roman discovered that while everyone at the base had joined because they believed in Adam's methods and cause, not one of them had been recruited directly by him. It had always been by someone who said they worked for Adam.
That, plus all the rumors that were certainly fictional, and it was clear that someone was pulling Adam's strings. Someone high up in the White Fang was using Adam to gather young radicals together for some sort of political gain. Cinder taking control probably didn't upset things too much, with everything being spun as if Adam was still in charge of the whole operation.
The poor man was just a pawn in someone else game. Roman could sympathize a little, as he was a pawn to Cinder but at least he knew he was a pawn and had plans to change that. Adam was both clueless and powerless over his fate and for that Roman had no reason to respect or fear him.
Sitting next to Adam in the Bullhead was that new girl, Ilia, and shifting his attention to her, Roman found someone that he was apprehensive about. She was completely still, not even making the smallest movement. His initial guess of her being a chameleon proved right, as her brown skin had changed to deep black, matching her uniform and making it hard to see her in the shadows. With the hood covering her hair, it was even hard to tell that she was even a girl at all, more of a slim, living shadow.
Roman had only known her for a few hours, but his observations and instincts were all telling him that this girl was a killer. This girl was a stone-cold murderer, a silent and ruthless assassin if ever he saw one. She came all the way from Menagerie to help them? Most likely she was here to keep an eye on Adam and, if needed, take him out of the picture if he couldn't keep a handle on things.
Roman was also not under any illusions that she would take him out if he proved too much of a nuisance or a threat to the White Fang. Cinder wouldn't be able to protect him from a knife to the back and he was really starting to miss having Neo around to keep an eye out. He was hoping she returned from whatever job Cinder had her on, as the best defence from a remorseless killer was to have your own remorseless killer.
Either way, he would have to trend carefully with her around now.
"We're approaching the docks of Vale." The pilot spoke over the intercom. "They haven't seen us at all. Be there in a few minutes."
Roman stowed his thoughts away and stood up with all the confident swagger he could muster.
"Alright, ladies and gentlemen. It's time to get to work"
Blake and Sun threw themselves flat against the roof as the Bullheads flew over head. The airships circled the docks before hovering above the stacked Dust containers and slowly lowered to the ground. When the first one was just above the ground, the doors opened and several people jumped out. Even at this distance, their white uniforms and animal traits were clear; it was the White Fang.
"So…it was the White Fang behind the Dust robberies" Sun said as he looked out over the edge of the roof.
"Or at least a part of it" Blake replied, her voice tight. While they had been right about who the criminals were now, it didn't make Blake any happier to know that the organization she had once admired had fallen to such a low. Even if it wasn't the entire organization, and the number of Bullheads suggested this was a large group, this proved that the overall leadership of the White Fang had completely failed.
"Damn, there is a lot of them. How did they get so many Bullheads and how did they get into Vale without anyone noticing?" Sun was bewildered by the size of this group. This was not the small band of rag-tag Dust burglars he was expecting. "There's no way we can stop them by ourselves. Take some pictures for the police and let's get out of here".
Sun may have been a hot-head, but even he understood that discretion can be the better part of valour is some situations. Blake nodded and took Sun's Scroll, getting the camera ready and zooming in to get a good picture. She was just about to snap a shot when another figure hopped out of the airship, one that was quite different from the White Fang members.
"All right let's get a move on. We're not exactly inconspicuous out here; the authorities are going to notices us sooner or later so get the Dust loaded up!"
The one shouting the order was a man in a white trench coat with a bowler hat and a cane, but the most striking feature was that he didn't have any Faunus traits at all.
"Wait, why the heck is a human working with a radical group of White Fang? And why are they taking orders from him?" Sun asked these questions to Blake but the only response he got was a low growled that made him turn towards her.
Blake was staring at the newcomer, her teeth bared, and her eyes appeared to her have become slits, directing pure rage at the red-haired human below.
"That's…Torchwick" she hissed out through clenched teeth. "He…He tried to hurt…to hurt Ruby!"
Sun was taken back by the sudden feral appearance of his new friend but before he could say anything, Blake stood up and began rapidly typing something onto the Scroll that she was still holding. Before he could ask, Blake tossed the Scroll back to him and jumped off the roof. She was gone before he could stop her and Sun could only groan as he leapt down to following, thinking again that he may have gotten over his head with this trip to Vale.
Ruby's Scroll suddenly began to beep loudly, bring her and her group to a halt as she pulled it out to see what was going on. She looked at the screen for several seconds before her eyes widened in understanding.
"Blake's just activated Beacon's locker system and called in her weapon!"
"What?" Yang exclaimed. "How can she do that? She left her Scroll in the dorm, right?"
"You can still call in your weapon locker from any Scroll so long as you entered the correct code." Weiss answered Yang's question before turning to Ruby. "If she's calling in her weapon, then she must be in trouble. Where is her locker heading towards?"
Ruby expanded her Scroll and using her team leader privileges, accessed her team's information to pinpoint where the rocket locker was heading.
"Penny was right, she's at the docks. I got the exact location, so let's move it team!"
With that, the group took off running towards the docks, Ruby sending a message to JNPR telling them that there was trouble and they had to hurry.
If someone hurt Blake, they would make them pay.
From long experience, Roman Torchwick had come to believe that the first few minutes of any heist were the most important, and that if things went well in the beginning, then it was likely things would work out. It certainly appeared that way with this 'little' heist; there had been no alarms as their little air fleet passed into Vale's airspace, no searchlight had turned on as they approached the docks and no dock workers came around to check what the noise was. The place was completely deserted, and all that Dust was ripe for the picking.
Roman gave a few more orders and was about to light his cigar when a black boot suddenly hit him in the face, knocking him down. Having long experience with this sort of thing too, he rolled with the blow and was quickly back on his feet. He saw that the boot was connected to a leg, and that the leg was attached to a very angry looking cat Faunus.
Before he could even thing about how she could have snuck up on him, she launched a furry of blows at him, punches, kick and she even tried to scratch him.
"Damn it, you worthless animals! Get over here and help me!" Roman cried out as he dodged and blocked this girl's onslaught.
"You bastard! You bastard! You tried to hurt by little sister, my Ruby! I'll tear you apart!" The girl looked almost feral as she continued to attack him. Roman managed to get some distance as some of the White Fang finally realized what was happening and rushed to their… 'organizer's' aid.
The girl dispatched the handful of White Fang thugs who came at her, all making the mistake of trying to restrain her instead of using their weapons. It did give Roman enough time to fully recover and point his cane at the girl.
"Okay, end of the line Kitty. I don't who you are, but you just made the biggest mistake of your life." Roman activated the firearm part of his cane and prepared to fire. The feral cat-girl saw what he was about to her and, to Roman's surprise, just smiled at him.
Out of nowhere, something streaked across the sky before slamming to the ground near the girl. Roman and the White Fangs were surprised and took several steps back as the dust cleared to reveal that it was a grey locker.
Blake had heard the locker coming and was readying, bracing herself for the impact and rushing towards it as soon as the doors opened to reveal Gambol Shroud. Blake grabbed her weapon, jumping on top of the weapon locker as she loaded in a magazine of Burn Dust rounds. She took a deep breath as she activated the experimental mode on her weapon, throwing the gun and attached ribbon high into the air.
At the apex of it's ascend, the bladed pistol suddenly erupted into flames, the fire traveling down more then halfway the ribbon's length. Blake took a firm hold of the ribbon and spun the flaming kusarigama around, driving the White Fang back.
She jumped off the locker and advanced towards Roman, swinging her weapon in wide but controlled arcs to drive him back and keep everyone else away. A group of White Fang tried to rush her from the side, but Sun jumped into the middle of them and quickly knocked them down with his staff.
Bringing him along had been a good idea after all.
Roman was a good fighter, but he had less experience when it came to over-the-top Huntsmen weapons; a good thief stays away from Huntsmen. He blocked the first several swings but eventually one got close to his hand and the heat made him drop his cane. He could only watch as the flaming weapon came down one more time, this time going right for his head.
With a sharp crack, a long whip crackling with lightening struck the sickle blade and knocked it off course. A surge of electric traveled down the ribbon, shocking Blake and making her dropped her weapon for a moment. The gun-sickle clattered to the ground as the flames guttered out. Sun saw that Blake was in trouble and moved to help but was stopped by a powerful slash from a red sword. He blocked the attack with his staff, but he was still forced back several feet.
Blake quickly retrieved her weapon, turning into its sword form as she stood up and took in the new threat.
Two more people had shown up, alongside a large group of more White Fang. Their attire and weapons marked them out as above the rest. One was a very slim and dressed completely in black, even their face and mask were such a dark colour that she couldn't make out any details. She couldn't even tell if they were a man or woman, with any kind of distinguishing features being completely hidden. The whip in their hand retracted into a rapier-like form and they simply stood there, looking at Blake.
It really creeped her out.
The other one had red hair and a long red-bladed katana. It took Blake a second to remember who he was from the recent news story and she finally began to understand just how much trouble she had landed herself into.
She slowly tried to back away, but there were too many White Fang goons surrounding her to make a clean getaway. Even if she could slip away, that would leave Sun all on his own and she couldn't just abandon him.
One of the White Fang, seeing that Blake was hesitating and wanting to look good in front of Adam, raised his blade and charged her from the side. He didn't get more then a few feet before a shot rang out and the weapon knocked from his hand. Everyone turned towards one of the nearby buildings and saw four people standing on the roof, one of which was holding a red sniper rifle.
Ruby quickly scanned the dockyards through her scope, taking in everything and forming a plan in only a few moments.
"Weiss, you go support Blake. Yang, you take the group on the left. Penny, the right flank is yours. I'll provide fire support from here"
The others nodded and jumped off the roof towards the docks. They took note of how Penny deployed several flying blades from her small backpack before they dashed forwards towards the large group of White Fang.
"This is getting out of hand Roman" Adam said as the White Fang engaged the newcomers. They didn't have time for this and while he wouldn't admit it here, he didn't like having to fight other Faunus.
"Out of my hands now. You can't really plan for crazy. Let's just take these crazy bitches out quick and grab what we can before the police show up." Roman picked up his cane and gesture with it towards the ensuring melee. "After you; this is why you're here after all, right?"
Adam growled in response but decided not to press the issue; they didn't have the time. He dashed towards the fight, drawing his sword as he headed towards the blonde brawler. Ilia stood quiet for a moment before heading towards the black cat that had started this whole thing. Roman just stood back, he was just the hired help after all.
Blake engaged Ilia, still unsure of who or what she was. She dodged the whip lashes by the barest of margins and was unable to counterattack effectively. This person knew how to fight, and their agility and dexterity were easily a match for Blake's own.
A gazing hit to her arm shocked Blake and made her stumble backwards onto her stomach. Panic filled her as she realized that she was completely exposed and she look back in horror, expecting her opponent to strike her while she was down.
To her surprise, the shrouded White Fang was just standing there, whip held at the ready. They weren't moving at all, just looking down at her. Suddenly, a series of pink dots appear across their otherwise pitch-black face. Anger filled Blake as she realized exactly where they were looking.
She wasn't the only one, as Weiss's Grand Lance flew right at Ilia, snapping her out of her reprieve as he nimbly dodged. Weiss followed soon behind, staring daggers at the shroud Faunus.
"You pervert! Not only do you attack my sister, but you stare at her ass too! You're the worst kind of criminal and I'm going to slice you to pieces!"
Blake got back to her feet and stood beside Weiss. The twins didn't exchange a look or a word to each other. Weiss summoned her weapon back to her beside charging forward, Blake right at her side. They moved in perfect unison and soon they had Ilia on the defensive.
Adam advanced on Yang and Sun, who were dispatching the White Fang around them with ease. The blonde duo launched a barrage of shots at the approaching swordsman, who blocked them all with his swords. His sword and hair began to glow as he absorbed the impacts with his Semblance and he readied his blade, intending to end both of them with one strike.
He hesitated, just for a moment, and that was all it took for a bronze shield to be sent flying through the air towards him. He blocked it, along with the red spear that followed but it forced him back and onto the defensive. He spotted the one who threw those weapons, a girl with bright red hair dashing forwards alongside a young man in green. The shield and spear returned to her hands and she engaged Adam in melee combat while her companion attacked the White Fang with twin pistols.
Adam had great confidence in his skills with a sword and his ability in one on one combat, but this girl was something else. All his swings seemed to change trajectory at the last second, causing to him keep missing her while her own attacks pressed home.
The two locked blades and Adam looked into her green eyes and felt…something. Something about this girl, and the way she fought, seemed almost familiar to him. Something about her just tugged at the back of his mind, from a time long ago.
Before he had lost his memories twelve years ago.
Pyrrha was also feeling something off about her opponent. His sword-style and his whole presence just nagged at her, but she had long experience at suppressing her emotions to focus on the fight. She did as she always did, she fought on.
A series of explosion on the other side of the melee heralded the arrive of Nora and Jaune. The blonde knight advanced cautious, keeping his shield up and using all he had learned to fight. Nora kept up her fire, using perfect precision to ensure that her grenades landed where they would do the most damage to the enemy but not hurt or disrupt her allies. It took great skill to pull that off, showing that she wasn't the wild bombardier that she gave the impression of.
Roman grimaced at the sudden arrive of even more annoying brats. He got on his Scroll and ordered the remaining Bullheads to close in and give them support. There was no point in trying to be subtle anymore, so they may as well bring in everything.
He had just given the order when he was forced to duck under fiery punch. Getting his bearing, he saw that the blonde brawler had broken off from the main body of fighting and had gone straight for him. She was glaring right at him, her eyes a blood red colour and it almost looked like her hair was on fire.
"You bastard! You bastard! You tried to hurt by little sisters, first my Ruby and now my Blake! I'll smash you to pieces!"
Roman could only give an incredulous look back at her.
"Who are you people?!"
Yang didn't give him an answer, instead rushing forward with a flurry of punches. Again, Roman was pressed hard by one of the Xiao Long Sisters and their fury couldn't be stopped. A thug like Roman Torchwick couldn't hope to take on a Huntress, even one still in training, in a fair fight.
Luckily for him, this wasn't a sanctioned match with all the rules and limits and he didn't have to fight fair. As he fell to one knee and Yang step forward to deliver the finishing blow, he grabbed a handful of loose dirt from the ground and threw it into the blonde's face.
Yang, trained in the hard but honorable combat style of her father, hadn't expected anything like that and was caught completely off guard. She stumbled backwards as she tried to wipe the dirt from her eyes, momentarily blind to everything around her.
That was all Roman needed to begin a vicious counterattack. A hard strike to her temple stunned her, while ramming the end of his cane into her gut knocked the wind out of her and made her double over. A full swing of his cane to her chin sent her flying backwards, hitting the ground hard and lying still for several seconds.
Roman smirked at the fallen spitfire. Fiery rage didn't win fights on the streets; it was cold-blooded viciousness and willingness to do whatever it takes to win.
The downed blonde started to slowly get back up and the smirk vanished from Torchwick's face. He walked towards her, cane held up high, intending to finish this once and for all.
It was that particular sight that Ruby saw through her rifle scope. She had been providing sniper support from her position on the rooftop. She was prioritizing those White Fang members who had firearms of their own, using disarming and disabling shots to protect her friends. She saw the incoming Bullheads and was about to warn the others when she saw Torchwick and Yang.
Time seemed to slow to a crawl as her mind tried to process what she was seeing. Something had to be wrong, reality itself must be making a mistake here, because it looked like someone had hurt her sister.
Her sister. Her sister. Her sister. My…sister…
MY SISTER! MINE!
Years of developing a heighten sense for danger in Vale's underworld, along with having his cane already raised, were the only reasons that Roman Torchwick lived beyond that moment. His body just sensed that danger was coming and moved his upheld weapon the few inches needed to just barely block the scythe blade that had been heading for his neck.
It took a moment for Torchwick to fully understand what had happened, that he had blocked a lethal blow and that the force of the attack had pushed him several feet sideways. It took another moment for him to notice all the red rose petals swirling around and he turned to see that it was the little red reaper from the Dust store months ago.
"Why, Hello Little Red. Come to join the part-hhhggh"
Roman's witty remark was cut off by Ruby using her free hand to grab him by the throat and started choking him. Roman instructively grabbed her wrist and tried to pull her off but she had his neck in a vice grip and wouldn't let go.
It was then that Roman saw her eyes. They weren't the bright eyes of a young wannabe hero like before. They were cold and were looking at him as if he was nothing, as if taking his life was nothing. Roman knew his fair share of stone-cold killers but he had never seen such a detached expression, especially from one so young.
For the first time in a long time, Roman Torchwick was truly afraid for his life.
"She…is…. mine!" Ruby voice matched her eyes, cold but with a strong force behind it. "No one is taking her, or any of them, away from me".
Both fear and lack of oxygen hampered Roman's ability to do anything, and he would have finally met his end at the hand of this little girl if he survival instincts didn't kick in again. A desperate punch to her temple was enough to Ruby to break her grip and stagger backwards. Holding his cane in both hands, Roman swung it as hard as he had ever done, hitting the little monster and sending flying across the docks, away from him.
The master criminal fell back to his knees, hand to his throat. He could already feel the bruises forming on his neck as he frantically sucked in air. This whole night was turning out to be much more then he had bargained for.
"RUBY!"
Yang had finally gotten back to her feet in time to see Torchwick bat her little sister across the docks. The rage within her multiple several times over before erupting in a massive burst of fire. The blonde became surrounded by a column of flames, so hot and intense that the pavement beneath her feet began to crack and bubble. She saw with glowing, blood-red eyes that Torchwick had gotten to his feet and was running away from her as fast as he could.
He wouldn't escape her wrath.
A flick of her wrists caused her gauntlets to eject their spent shells and another caused them to shift their forms. Yang reached into the ammo pouches on her lower back and pulled out two long belts of ammunition. She slotted them into her weapon and took a brief moment to breathe, before unleashing a barrage of flaming shotgun blasts at the fleeing criminal.
Torchwick ducked and weaved, dodging the shots but still getting more singed then he would have wanted. The new ammo, combined with her flaming Semblance, was turning her shots into balls of fire that had both power and range. He found a concrete barrier to take cover behind but Yang was firing as fast as she could punch, which meant that her rate of fire was almost on par with a machine gun. The barrier quickly began to fall apart under the onslaught as Torchwick screamed into his radio for backup.
The circling Bullheads finally got into position and fired their mounted machine-guns at the blonde brawler. Yang was forced to shift her fire towards the airborne threat, her shots exploding against the airships armoured hulls. She couldn't do much to damage them but she was able to keep the Bullheads off-balance enough so they couldn't line up a proper shot on either her or anyone else.
Torchwick would have to wait; Yang's mission now was to protect the others from the enemy's air power. She couldn't do it forever and she silently hoped that someone could help her before thing go any worse.
Ruby laid on the ground near the edge of the dockyards where she had landed from impromptu flight. She slowly sat up, shaking up head as she tried to remember what had just happened.
"How…how did I get down from rooftop. I was giving fire support, saw the Bullheads and then…" Ruby tapped her chin as she tried and failed to fully recall what had made her come down to ground level. It had something to do with Torchwick and Yang…
Ruby looked around and saw the bright pillar of fire that signaled that her big sister was beyond mad. The rapid fire of shots from her proved that she was using Ember Cilica's Barrage Mode, meaning that it was a pretty serious situation. Still, Yang being mad and unleashing a slew of shotgun blasts was fairly normal and she couldn't see Torchwick anywhere, so it seemed that there wasn't any serious issue to worry about.
"Friend-Ruby, are you okay?"
Ruby looked up and saw that Penny was standing over her. Those strange blades were floating behind her; Ruby had seen how she could use them to fight out whole groups at once.
"I'm fine, just a little winded…Penny watch out!"
At that moment, the White Fang fighter that Ruby had spied rushed up behind Penny, an iron pipe held up high in his hands. He brought it down and a loud metal clang echoed in Ruby's ears.
Both her and the White Fang had the same stupefied expression as he pulled back the pipe, which was now bent where it at hit Penny's head. The orange-haired girl didn't even flinch at the attack and turned around with a look of confusion.
"Examination: it appears that I am the target of a surprise attack" Penny pointed at the White Fang member. "Proclamation: As I have informed your fellows, your actions are highly illegal and disruptive. Surrender and prepare to be handed over to the proper authorities."
This particular White Fang, just like all the others, had no plan to simply give up and instead attack with the pipe again. Penny responded by stepping forward pushing the man in the chest with one hand. The Faunus went flying backwards, slamming hard into the wall and fell to the ground unconscious.
Ruby continued to look at Penny with a bewildered expression. Even Yang couldn't have pushed someone that hard with such little push and that blow to the head looked and sounded like it fully connected. Aura can only do some much for attacks like that yet Penny took it like it was nothing.
Penny looked and began to scan the sky. "Analysis: it appears that our foes are bringing it more Bullheads to attack us from above. I conclude that they will be more then Friend-Yang can effectively deal with."
Ruby saw that a trio of Bullheads were coming in from opposite direction of the ones Yang was firing at. Her sister was completely exposed and there wasn't anyone nearby who could help. The red Xiao Long leapt to her feet and prepared to rush to her sister aid, even if there was nothing she could, she had to save her sister.
Her sister…her sister…
Penny stepped forward, her blades spinning in a circle before her. "Don't worry, I'm not going to let anyone hurt my friends."
With that, a giant green laser shot out from the centre of the sword circle and neatly bisected the oncoming Bullheads. The pieces of the aerial vehicles continued their journey through the air for a few moments before they tumbled into the sea, the crews having just enough time to bail out.
Penny flashed Ruby a bright smile and threw another salute before dashing back into the ongoing melee. Ruby was left to tally up what she had just witnessed; that Penny was super tough, super strong and could shoot giant laser beams.
"Penny's a robot. All the evidence points to that. She is one hundred percent a robot"
Ruby frowned a little, miffed that she had been wrong about this particular subject, before a thought entered her mind.
"I'm friends with a robot. That is…AWESOME!"
Seriously, how cool was that? There had to be a thousand amazing things that she could do. They were definitely going to sit her down and go over everything when they got the chance.
But first, there was this life-or-death battle with this small army of White Fang fanatics to deal with first. Brandishing her scythe, Ruby sprinted after Penny, towards the nearest group of White Fang, deciding to fight up-close this time.
Jaune had managed to fight through the main body of the White Fang to where Pyrrha was dueling that red swordsman, thanks in no small part to Nora's fire support. He didn't know what help he could be but he felt obliged as her partner to help any way he could. His first swing was dodged effortlessly by the bull Faunus, though he managed to block the counterattack with his shield. Remembering all of Pyrrha's training, wide stance and a firm grip, Jaune unleashed a powerful swing, knocking the surprised Adam back several feet.
The White Fang leader had blocked the attack with his sword and both it and his hair were glowing brightly with contained energy. Seeing that he now had two foes to deal with, he decided use his Semblance to end this quickly before things got even more out of hand. He re-sheathed his katana and took a wide stance, preparing to unleash a single, unstoppable blow.
Jaune saw that something big was coming and raised his shield. "Pyrrha! Arkos!"
Jaune had been inspired by the Xiao Long Sisters Team attacks and had devised several for JNPR to try out when his skills had improved sufficiently. They hadn't practiced with any of them yet but he had gone over his plans with his team, so when Jaune shouted 'Arkos', Pyrrha knew that they were to lock their shields together. The Mistral Champion obeyed her leaders command, getting next to him and raising her shield alongside his, readying to block the upcoming attack.
The flaw in this plan became apparent right away, as Jaune's elbow lightly bump against Pyrrha's due to their close proximity. Pyrrha's unintended reaction was to jump away, breaking the shield wall and leaving Jaune open.
Adam saw the opening and took it, drawing his sword and charging right at the confused knight. His Semblance activated as he swung his crimson sword, the aftermath visible in his mind's eyes. He saw the young knight cut clean in half horizontally, his shield and sword in pieces. His blue eyes faded as the life left him and the crimson blood flowed free as he died.
A loud clash of metal rang out and Jaune was sent flying. He hit the ground hard and roll away for several feet, his shield having a deep red score across them now. A rock cut his forehead as his Aura flickered and a small stream of blood began to cover part of his face. He wasn't moving, but the moans of pain he was letting out made it clear that he was very much alive.
Adam was still as a statue, sword still held out in front of him, his teeth clenched tight.
"Damnit! I did it again! Why do I always turn my blade at the last moment? Why can't I kill a single human? They're our enemies, so why do I hesitate?"
Adam wasn't the only one stilled by what happened, as Pyrrha could only stare at her fallen leader.
"J..Jaune?" Pyrrha's voice was barely a whisper, horror filling her being at what harm she had allowed to happen to her partner, her friend.
"JAUNE!"
Nora's cry echoed loud across the battlefield. She was standing atop a pile of stacked shipping containers, and so had a full view of the docks below. She saw Jaune get hit by that powerful attack and get sent backwards. From this distance, she couldn't tell if he was breathing or not; all she could tell that he was laying still and was bleeding.
Jaune was hurt. Jaune, the boy who had been so nice to her even after she had broken his arm. He was the first one ever to call her beautiful, to make her feel beautiful. He made her feel like a normal girl and made her forget, for a short time at least, all about her past and her unwanted powers and the sheer fact that was a monster.
He was her friend…her friend…her Jaune…
Nora let out a cry of pure rage, shouting out to the heaven all her feelings of anger and despair.
The heaven answered her.
A dark storm cloud suddenly formed high above Nora and shot a bolt of lightening down at her. As it hit the pink bomber, it was absorbed completely into her body, the pink diamond on her choker flaring into life. Bolt of energy shot out from her body, scoring and melting parts of the metal container she was standing on. The bracelets on her wrist turned black as they went inert, unable to limit the surge of power coursing through her power. Only her choker continued to limit her power, but an immense power still ran unchecked with her now.
Nora left out a breathless laugh. It had been so long since she had two Limiters deactivated, she had almost forgotten was it was like. She had so much power at her fingertips, she could do whatever she wanted. It was only in moments like this, where she let go of petty concerns and let the power flow through her, that she was ever truly alive.
She threw one of her hand up into the air and bolts of pink lightening shot out from her fingers and palm, soaring into the sky before scattering in all directly. Several bolts, seemingly at random, struck many of the hovering Bullheads and disabled them. They fell from the sky and crashed into the sea; luckily, they weren't too high up, so the crash wasn't hard and the crews were able to escape.
Nora laughed gleefully. They were all just insects for her to crush at her leisure; not one of them could stand up to her power. She was the queen of the castle here, and she would smash all of them into nothing.
The Valkyrie jumped high into the air and deployed her hammer. Her whole body cracked with barely contained energy as she held the hammer up. She landed in the middle of the docks, slamming her hammer down as she landed with a thunderous crash. Everyone stopped fighting and the dockyards grew quiet as everyone looked at the hammer wielding girl who just appeared out of nowhere.
Cracks began to form on the ground around where the hammer had impacted and they quickly spread out in all directions. Not just the area around Nora but throughout this entire area of the docks the ground began to crack and splinter. The earth started rumbling and shaking, throwing everyone off balance.
And then this entire stretch of the Vale Docks, a place that had weathered innumerable storms before, began to crumble and collapse into the sea. Huge chunks of concrete, shipping containers filled with precious Dust, dockyard warehouses and even a huge unloading crane, all of it tumbled and crashed into the churning water.
All thoughts of continuing the fight vanished as everyone's 'flight' instinct kicked in. Team RWBY disengaged their foes and dashed away from the waterfront and towards the city proper, using their weapons and Semblances to keep ahead of the collapsing ground. Penny simply jumped the required distance in a single bound and Ren used his acrobatics skills to get away, all the while calling out for Nora.
Pyrrha began to run for safety when she remembered Jaune. He was still lying on the ground, completely out of it, and the collapsing ground was almost upon him. All thoughts of her own safety vanished as she reached out with one hand, a black glow surrounding it.
Roman scrambled to his feet as the ground crumbled around him. White Fang members around him were slipping and falling into the ocean but he ignored them, focusing as always on number one. He leapt up onto a shipping container and fired the hook of his cane at the open door of one of the few remaining airborne Bullheads. He reeled himself up and into the airship.
"Get us out of here!" he yelled to the pilot.
"But…what about the others?"
"The cops will be here soon and they'll probably bring some Huntsmen along too. We don't have time, so get us away from Vale or you'll be sleeping with the fishes tonight."
The young deer Faunus gulped loudly before turning back to his control and began to turn the Bullhead around, away from Vale. Roman took a moment to look out the window and to his mild chagrin saw that both Adam and the new girl, Ilia, leaping up and grabbing onto their own respective Bullheads as well. If those two had been conveniently left behind and out of Roman's hair for good, then at least some good would have come from this disaster.
As the Bullheads retreated from the Kingdom, Roman was left to count the costs of this heist. Of the twelve Bullhead, only five had survived, and dozens of White Fang grunts had been lost. All for a sum total of zero Dust stolen; a complete and total disaster. Roman wasn't looking forward to reporting this to Cinder.
The long-time criminal sat down and rubbed his bruised throat. Cinder would certainly be angry, but he guessed she would just press on with her grand scheme. She would still need him to coordinate everything inside of Vale, so his neck should be off the chopping block for now.
But he wasn't going back into the fry by himself, not after dealing with those freaks and that silver-eyed psycho. He wanted some serious firepower next time he went into Vale; and he wanted Neo back at his side. He didn't care how much Cinder burned him, that was non-negotiable.
On their own Bullheads, both Adam and Ilia were having similar thoughts, namely towards the girls that they had been fighting respectively. While Adam was angry and sad over all the Faunus they had left behind to get rounded up by the cops, he couldn't stop thinking about that red-haired girl. Her fighting skills had been incredible for a teenager and she had pushed him like few others had before.
But more then that were the feelings she stirred within him, emotions of a forgotten past. He must have seen or known her from long ago, before he lost his memories. She might be the link back to who he was before he was found along the shores to the south of Vale by a troupe of Faunus, before he took up the Faunus cause and joined the White Fang.
Before everything kept going wrong no matter how much he tried to do the right thing.
Adam was dedicated to the White Fang and the current mission in Vale, despite his personal misgivings, but now he had another goal here. To find out the truth of that girl, the connection between them and maybe find out just who he really was.
In her own Bullhead, Ilia sat in silence as her face shifted between a multitude of different colours. This matched the swirl of emotions going through her mind, the most complex and conflicted feelings that she had felt in years. Some of it was shame at the obvious failure of their mission but the vast majority of it was focused on that Cat Faunus she had fought.
She had no idea who she was or why she would stand against her fellow Faunus but the righteous fire in her eyes had been clear. To the cold and ruthless assassin, such fiery passion and intensity was astonishing. To the sad and lonely chameleon girl it was…arousing.
Ever since her parents had died in that mining incident in Mantle, Ilia had been alone. The only thing she held onto was a burning hatred for humans, which eventually led her to Sienna Khan's faction within the White Fang.
There, she found others who believed that Ghira Belledonna's pandering to humans was worthless and degrading, and knew they had to fight for their place in the sun. There, Ilia had learned to fight, to hide, to stalk without being seen.
She learned to kill.
Sienna Khan couldn't be open with her violent plans; she needed to toe the party line or else risk being expelled before she could take control of the entire organization and all of its resources. When she eventually did, then the Second Revolution would begin and this time, the Faunus would take what was rightfully theirs.
But there was no reason to not prepare the groundwork while they waited. With her natural gifts, Ilia had been picked to silently eliminate those humans who stood against the White Fang in any way. Any reservations she may have had about becoming an assassin were tossed away by her burning desire to kill those she felt had taken everything away from her.
But taking even a single life placed a burden on one's soul, as Ilia's burning need for revenge began to dull after her first dozen kills, and was completely extinguished by her next two dozen. Sienna Khan had probably been counting on that, as it was only after her eyes had a dead look to them that she sent to kill Faunus. There were those within the White Fang that would stand against Sienna no matter what and had be removed quietly before she took power.
Ilia did the deeds efficiently and dispassionately. The younger Ilia of before would have decried the spilling of Faunus blood, but she was now a harden killer and did any task without question. She didn't take any pleasure in it anymore, but she had nothing else in her life to hold onto, so she stayed and killed whoever she was told to kill.
But then this girl shows up out of nowhere and with golden eyes that seemed to pierce into her soul and melt the ice that had built up around her heart. The fury and wrath she had dished out against Torchwick and against her had reminded Ilia of her past, of when she had been an impassioned firebrand just looking for a fight. Her grace and skill had been obvious and her body moved like it was poetry in motion.
And what a body it was! That slim figure, large bust, long legs and that wonderful, wonderful ass! Ilia felt feelings stir within her that she thought had been buried forever. Romantic feeling and sexual desires had no place for an assassin but here it was, warm and pleasant feelings filled her body.
This…this was something special, it had to be. She didn't know what exactly it but it was something different from the cold and bloody world she had been living it. She latched onto it, like a drowning man grasping at a piece of driftwood. Her warped and damaged mind couldn't fully understand what it was but she knew that she liked it; and she wanted more.
Ilia had been sent her by Sienna Khan to keep an eye on Adam Taurus and ensure that her little puppet acted in a way that benefited her. If he didn't, or this deal with Torchwick's benefactor fell through, then she was to take Adam out of the picture and turn him into a martyr for the White Fang.
To this, Ilia now added another objective; she would find out who that girl was and why she made her feel this way. It was a selfish thing, but Ilia didn't care; she wanted to be selfish for once in her life.
As the Bullhead made the long and winding journey back to the hidden base, Ilia spent her time thinking about the cat-girl, about her beautiful body and all the things she could do with her. For the first time in years, Ilia Amitola laughed as gleeful obsession took root in her mind.
The White Fang assassin wasn't the only one laughing, as Nora stood atop a building at the edge of the collapse area she had create. She laughed at the sight of the people below, who looked like little ants to her. Many of those in white had fallen into the water and looked nothing more then drowning rats. They were all nothing compared to her and her god-like powers; nothing at all.
Around the edges of the collapsed docks were ants wearing a variety of different colours. It was pretty, but they were still ants nonetheless. Maybe she should go down there and knock them into the water, to drown in the water with the other bugs and…wait…
Nora narrowed her eyes, which were glowing bright with contained energy and where the image of a white sword had appeared in her left pupil, and looked closer at those down below. Those weren't ants, those were…RWBY and JNPR…her teammates, her friends!
The rush of power that had clouded her mind dissipated as she fully revealed she had just done. She had just destroyed a huge chuck of the dockyards and had almost hurt her friends. It was seemingly by luck alone that they had all managed to escape the collapsing waterfront and were safe but…Jaune! Jaune had been knocked out; there was no way he could have gotten to safety and if he had fallen into the water while still unconscious…
Nora desperately scanned the area, praying that she hadn't done something truly horrendous. For once, her prays seemed to be answered as she spotted Pyrrha and Jaune. The red-haired Champion was hanging onto the very edge of the crater, her sword embedded into what was now sheer cliff with the rough waters below. She was hanging onto her sword with one hand, with the other held out before her, pointing towards Jaune.
The blonde knight was floating above the water, several feet away from Pyrrha. He was still unconscious but overall appear to be okay. It wasn't clear exactly how he was levitating but it seemed that Pyrrha had something to do with it, as both her hand and Jaune's armour had a black glow around them.
It also seemed to be straining for Pyrrha, as Jaune began to drop lower and lower and her grip on her sword began to slip. Nora was a breath away from jumping down to help, but she wasn't the only one to notice their play. Team RWBY and Ren rushed over to help the pair, Ren and Yang grabbing Pyrrha and pulling her up while Weiss used her Semblance to bring Jaune over to solid ground.
Nora sighed deeply in relief, grateful beyond anything that she hadn't screwed up again…that she hadn't gotten people she cared about killed again.
"Why should you care about that?"
Nora looked up as this voice boomed loudly in her mind. High above, dark storm clouds gathered and in the middle of it, to Nora's eyes only, a face became visible.
"Why do you care about these worthless insects, my little monster?"
Nora closed her eyes and held her hands over her ears in a vain attempt to deny the voice.
"Why should you, when you are so much more the they are, my wonderful little destroyer?
Nora shook her head as tear formed in her eyes. She didn't want this…she wasn't a…
"Why care, when you have done so much worse…my beloved little murderer"
Nora's scream was silent but rang loud in her mind as raised one hand towards the face in the storm. Lightening shot out of her hand and hit the face directly, which dissolved back into the mass of black clouds. All of the energy in Nora's body, the damnable power she never wanted, was expelled into the storm cloud, which seemed to eagerly absorb it all. When the last spark was taken, the storm cloud let out a last rumble of thunder before drifting out towards the open sea.
Absolute exhaustion set in for Nora and she embraced the peace of sleep as she tumbled off the building, completely unconscious before she even hit the ground.
Professor Ozpin, Headmaster of Beacon, surveyed the destroyed docks with what looked like casual disinterested, though it was far from that. It had been less then half an hour after the police had arrived at the scene to discover a whole section of the docks gone, alongside a group of Beacon students and a host of White Fang militants dragging themselves out of the waters.
A confusing mess to be sure and thus he and Professor Goodwitch arrived as soon as possible. The situation was well in hand, with the police hauling the White Fang away to either jail or the hospital as they needed and were cordoning the whole area off. It was quite a miracle that no one had died, given the destruction and numerous crashed Bullheads. The late hour meant there were no media around but by morning the whole area would be swarming with journalists. They would need to have a good explanation of what happened at the ready.
Goodwitch approach Ozpin, her scroll held out in front of her as she gave the Headmaster a concise overview of the events that she had gathered from Team RWBY and JNPR. A very surprising turn of events to be sure, but at least it turned out mostly okay in the end.
"The Schnee Dust Company is going to be furious about this. That was a lot of Dust in those containers and now there all underwater." Glynda commented as she finished her report.
"Those containers are watertight and they aren't too far down. It should be easy enough to recover the majority of them." Ozpin responded.
"Well, the Council won't be pleased either. This is an unprecedented level of destruction, the worse since the Great War and it was done by the hands of Beacon Students no less."
Ozping thought for a moment. "Well, then it will be up to Beacon to assist with repairing the damages."
"You mean it will to be up to me". Glynda's voice was even but her glare made her feelings on the matter clear.
Ozpin only smiled in return; it wasn't his fault that her Semblance was so useful in putting things back to together. Beacon saved a lot on repair costs having her around.
The Deputy Headmistress could only sigh; it looked like she had even more work ahead of her now.
"What is the situation with Miss Valkyrie?" Ozpin said, becoming serious.
"According to Lie Ren, Nora Valkyrie drained the electricity from a nearby transformer and used the power boost granted by her Semblance to strike the ground and collapse the docks. She herself was knocked away and the strain of doing such a feat knocked her unconscious, though her Aura protected her from the fall."
Ozpin nodded. "Yes, her Semblance is quite powerful when fully charged. It's a very believable lie; we'll put that as the official statement as to what happened."
Glynda merely nodded along with this plan to mislead the media and the Kingdom at large. There were somethings that simply must be kept secret and this was one of them.
"Did any of the other students see anything that contradicts what Mr. Ren has said?" Ozpin asked.
"No. None of them saw anything, as they were too busy fighting the White Fang and then trying not to fall into the water as the ground collapsed. I imagine that Lie Ren didn't see anything himself but simply knew the signs of what was happening."
"Yes, I imagine that he did" Ozpin said, more to himself before turning back to Goodwitch. "Do we know which way that storm front is heading?"
"By all reports it's heading northwest, bypassing Patch and going into the open ocean. The storm is powerful but thankfully it's not particularly large. We're sending out a warning for all ships to steer clear of it's projected path."
"Good, Good. Make sure that all precautions are taken. We don't want another tragedy…not like the one from twelve years ago"
Glynda nodded grimly and walked away converse with the police officers about the final details that would be in the report.
Ozpin looked over at where the students were sitting. There were quite a somber bunch right now, though that was expected when two of their number were out cold. There had apparently been another student, a monkey Faunus from Haven that had taken off on his own when the police arrived; he didn't know what to make of that at the moment. He would give them a little bit more time to themselves before having them taken back to Beacon. He hoped this experience would serve as a lesson that not all battles end in a happy victory.
Things may be harder than he expected, not just for Nora but for all of them. He could only hope that they were rise to meet the challenge; if they stuck together, then anything was possible.
Jaune slowly woke up, his whole body feeling sore and his head aching. It wasn't as bad as during the Initiation but he was hoping this wasn't going to become a regular thing. He sat up and opened his eyes, seeing the worried and relieved faces of his team and the Xiao Long Sisters surrounding him.
"Jaune! You're okay!" Pyrrha exclaimed, tears forming in her eyes. It almost looked like she was going to hug him, but she held herself back. Jaune got to his feet and looked around, seeing the destroyed docks just a short distance away.
"What the heck happened?" he asked. Ruby gave him a brief rundown of what happened, which left Jaune almost speechless.
"Damn Nora, I had no idea you were that strong. Nora? Nora!" Looking around for the Valkyrie, Jaune saw that she was laying on the ground, her head in Ren's lap with her eyes closed.
"She's fine" Ren said, answer Jaune's question before he could ask. "It's just doing something that big takes a lot out of her. Her Aura is still intact, so she doesn't have a scratch on her but she'll probably be sleeping for a while yet."
"At least she's not hurt or anything. I'm going to have to cook up a whole pile of pancakes myself as a thank you. It was a really risking move but it saved my neck for sure" Jaune couldn't keep the gentle smile off his as he looked down at the sleeping Nora.
"It did a bit more then that…" Yang commented, looking back the destruction their short friend had wrought.
"Well yeah, but I was knocked out by that masked swordsman. He probably would have finished me off if something drastic like that hadn't happened and ended the whole fight" Jaune felt obligated to come to his teammate's defence. Sure, it was over-the-top but that was Nora in a nutshell. It was thanks to her that a bandaged forehead is all he had to deal with and not something worse.
It occurred to him just then that it wasn't just Nora that he had to be grateful to.
"Pyrrha! You were the one who got me to safety, right?" Jaune turned to his partner. "I guess I owe you big too. Whatever you want, just name it."
Pyrrha was surprised and flustered; it wasn't anything dramatic and it was really her fault that he had into such a bad situation in the first place. It really should be her apologizing and making things up to him.
"How did you save him anyway? Blake asked, interrupting Pyrrha's train of thought. "It looked like you were levitating him or something"
All eyes were on Pyrrha, making her even more uncomfortable. She had been told to keep her Semblance a secret, to not use it overtly so as to keep it as a hidden trump card. She was on the verge of making up an excuse when she realized she had already broken this rule by saving Jaune. She hadn't been thinking about appearances or even her imposed duty as a savior; all that had been on her mind was saving her teammate because she wanted to.
Pyrrha had come to Vale to change and her promise with Ren reinforced that. But she needed to take some initiative herself and breaking this rule her parents had enforced seemed like a good first step.
"I used my Semblance…which is polarity" she said after a few moments.
Ruby gasped in excitement. "Ohhhhh, that means you can control…" she stopped and looked over towards Weiss.
"Magnets" the walking encyclopedia of the Xiao Long family answered.
"Magnets!" Ruby finished, turning back to Pyrrha with wide eyes.
"That means you can move and manipulate metal, right?" Ren asked. "You lifted Jaune up by using his armour."
"Whoa, that nifty" Yang said before her eyes went wide. "You used that on my gauntlets during our match at the beginning of the semester. I knew something was throwing off my punches."
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean offend you or-" Pyrrha's apology was cut by Yang waving it away.
"It's fine, it's fine. You have to use everything at your disposal to win a fight; that's the a basic fundamental of combat. I'll just have to be ready next we have a match." The brawler hit her fists together, looking like she was up for fight right then and there.
"If you can move metal, then you're going to have to be careful Penny…Penny? Where did she go?" Ruby looked around, searching for her newest friend.
"Who?" Jaune asked.
"Penny. She was the orange-haired girl with green clothes that was fighting beside us. Dang it, I completely forgot about her when things calmed down. She's a really nice person, strong too. She's also a robot."
The three conscious members of JNPR looked at Ruby, waiting for the punchline. When it wasn't forthcoming, they looked towards her older sisters for an explanation.
"Penny's a robot" The three elder Xiao Long said in unison. Jaune, Ren and Pyrrha just nodded along and filed it away for later.
Jaune noticed that his sword and shield were laying on the close by and he saw the deep scratch marring the white metal.
"Damn. That sword guy was no joke. Hope I can repair it; it's a family heirloom after all."
Ruby walked up and took her own look at the shield. "Definitely doable, but we may need to do some research into how they made these kinds of shields back in the day, so we can repair it properly. I'll help you out when we get back to Beacon."
"Thanks, I appreciate it" Jaune placed a hand on Ruby's shoulder. Her sisters tilted their heads slightly at this, but the remarkable thing was what they weren't feelings.
There was no sudden urge to kill, tear or otherwise destroy the blonde male for placing a hand on their precious baby sister. They looked at this scene and only saw a friendly gesture. It hit them right then that they had been having less and less hostile thoughts towards Jaune all semester, starting after that day he confessed about his transcript and they started to help with his training. Spending time with him, talking with him, they had come to realize that he was just a really nice and kind guy, someone that made a great friend.
They realized now that they may have, possibly, made the ever so slightly wrong impression of him at the beginning. Well…no permanent harm done, so they silently agreed to never bring it up again.
Ren watched as Jaune talked with Ruby about repairing his shield, Pyrrha joining in as she too wanted to help. He had seen how Pyrrha had broken then shield wall with Jaune and he suspected that Jaune knew it too, but he wasn't bothered or upset by it. Just like with Nora's destructive display, he was looking at things in a good light and not getting pulled down by it.
Ren looked down at his right hand, which was hidden from view by the others. It was shaking, trembling with the fear that he couldn't fully suppress. It was always like this after Nora had an…episode and even after things had calmed down, the fear wouldn't leave him. Fear of Nora…and what she was.
At that moment, Nora moved a little in her sleep before settling back down. Ren looked down at the girl sleeping on his lap and brushed a stray bit of hair out of her face with his left, more steady hand. It seemed like such a paradox that the being that inspired such primal terror in him and this peacefully sleeping girl were one and the same.
He had to remind himself that this was Nora, his fun-loving, energetic, hyperactive, absolutely beautiful teammate and closest friend, so he be so focused on this one aspect of her, no matter what it did now or back in the past.
Confusion passed through Ren's mind; where did the observation of Nora being beautiful come from? It was true of course but he never consciously thought about it before. Maybe that talk with Pyrrha earlier, when he noticed how radiant she could be when she smiled, had made him realized how beautiful the other females around him were.
Had…had he ever told Nora that she was beautiful? He must have, it was such an obvious fact.
He chided himself over thinking about such trivial things and that he had to focus on the important matters instead. It's what he…needed to do, for both of their sakes
With the others discussing thing among themselves or otherwise preoccupied, Weiss and Blake were left standing next to each other in silence. Even after the fighting stopped and the police arrived, neither had worked up the courage to speak to each other over why this had all started. But the ice had to be broken, so Weiss finally spoke up.
"Blake…"
The black Xiao Long turned to face her twin, complex emotions swirling within. Weiss kept her face down as she placed her hands-on Blake's shoulders, seemingly getting ready to speak.
The white Xiao Long had apparently decided to use actions instead of words and collided her forehead against her twin's in a hard headbutt.
"OUCH! Damn it, Weiss! I know you're mad but why would you…" Blake's rebuke trailed off as she saw that her sister was crying.
"You…you left us…you left me…I know I said some hurtful things but I couldn't know how they would affect you if you don't tell me what you're doing. I need you to meet me halfway, so we can deal with these issues together. I don't want to lose you…I can't…"
Blake pressed her forehead against Weiss's, ignoring the slight pain as she cupped her beloved sister's face in her hands.
"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have kept something like this in the dark for so long. It was important to me, but so are you. I promise to tell you everything from now on; just promise me that you'll keep an open mind, okay?"
Light blue eyes stared into shining gold for several moments before Weiss nodded. They closed their eyes and just basked in each other close presences for a minute before separating, Weiss wiping the tears from her eyes.
Everyone else had stopped what they were doing and just looked at the twins, smiles forming on their faces at their heartfelt reconciliation.
"Good to see you guys are back on the same page" Yang said, smiling brightly at her little sisters. "Nice headbutt by the way Weiss, really got your point across but I was actually expecting something even more dramatic after all that wailing you were doing earlier".
"I was not 'wailing', I was expressing my distress over the situation in a completely reasonable fashion-"
"WAAAHHHH! She's gone! Gone forever! I drove my twin sister away!"
The video recording of Weiss's morning crying cut the real one off as Yang held up her Scroll; She knew that making a recording would come in handy. The yellow Xiao Long had to duck and dodge as Weiss desperately tried to Scroll out of her hands, chasing her older sister in circles around the group.
She wasn't the only one chasing a sister, as Blake was right behind her, arms held out wide.
"Oh, you really do care! Come here Weiss and give me a big hug!"
So, Yang was running away from Weiss while Weiss avoided Blake and her bearhug; an absolutely ridiculous sight that brought smiles and laughter to everyone.
Ruby looked over her older, more 'mature' sisters, with a bright smile. Her silly, loving sisters…her sisters…my sisters
For a brief moment, Ruby faces become a visage of pure resolve and determination as a single thought passed through her mind.
"Mine"
Then it was gone and she was back to all smiles and laughter. For her, it was just a simple but very important thing.
None of the students noticed Professor Ozpin looking at them in confusion; they had been so grim and quiet a few moments ago, but were now smiling and laughing.
A smile tugged at the old wizard's lips as he realized that while things would be hard for this group, maybe it wouldn't be as bad as he feared. If they stuck together, then anything would be possible for them.
Longest chapter yet and fitting for the conclusion of the Volume 1 storyline. We get more background for Pyrrha and Ren and a big display of what Nora can do when she lets loose. As stated before, JNPR's relationships will be focused first on JauneXNora and PyrrhaXRen, as I feel that it will be an interesting take on things and I hope I've laid a good foundation for it here.
We also see that Ruby is just as, if not more, protective and possessive of her sisters as they are of her. It only in certain situation that it crops up and will have a serious impact later in post-Volume 3.
Adam and Ilia are in the story and have significant changes here. It should be clear that Adam is Pyrrha's lost brother, having lost his own memory and is pretending to be a Faunus. The exact reasons will be given later but for now its enough that he's someone who is trying to do the right thing but is constantly being forced and manipulated into doing bad things and is caught in a downward cycle. Whether or not he can get out of it and regain his memory will be a major element of this story.
For Ilia, she had to go down an even darker path then in the show, and with no Blake to befriend, become a very cold and merciless killer. Seeing Blake had ignited something within her, but its not good or wholesome. Blake's going to have some yandere problems in the future.
Key point to make is that Blake was lost when she was 5 years old, long before she could have ever had a chance to meet Adam or Ilia, so neither of them know her or recognize her. Blake also doesn't know what Ilia looks like thanks to her keeping in cover during the fight or even that she is a girl. Her name also wasn't spoken when Blake could hear it, so keep that in mind when they meet up again later down the line.
Sienna Khan is more devious and cold-hearted in this story, using Adam as a pawn as she prepares for a violent conflict with the humans. While not the war of enslavement or annihilation canon-Adam was after, she is more open for war with the humans then her show counterpart. I plan to make her a more important element of this story then she was in the show.
Penny's developing into a happy version of HK-47 from KOTOR. Not my original intent but still pretty fun nonetheless.
Nora's power isn't connected to the Maidens at all. The two Brothers left Remnant after wiping out humanity but humans still came back after a time, suggesting that some essence or power of creation was left behind that eventually created humans and Faunus. I'm going that other bits of magic were left behind and developed into their own unique phenomena. This Face in the Storm is one of these powers and while it destructive power is on par if not greater then a Maiden, it is far more difficult to control. Nora's trying to conquer this power will be a major element of her character's journey and it ties her back to the storm that set this whole story off.
A big announcement I want to make is that I'll be stepping back a bit from fanfiction writing. Still have work and school going on, but more then that I want to sit down and write my own original Fantasy-Adventure novel. I have no illusion about it getting published or making any money but it is still something I would like to try. This will probably mean that I won't be updating this story until the next RWBY volume is out. I do want to finish this story but I only have so much time to commit to things.
My plan for the next chapter or two was to have it be a series of vignettes, of short stories and episodes that are semi-connected. There are a lot of scenes I have planned out and want to write but it the connecting elements that give me trouble and wear me out. It will be set in the time between Volumes 1 and 2 and let me more quickly develop the characters, especially JNPR's relationships, without worrying about a consistent chronology. There will also be some funny scenes and flashbacks added in as well. I might be able to chip away at these and release some short chapters, but as always, I can make no promises.
I apologize for any and all writing errors and thank you all for reading my story. Please leave a review or PM if you liked what you read and tell me what you think.
Thanks again and I'll see you next time.
